Lil' Giant Killer Hemi Powered Junior Fueler
Jun 30, 2013 20:15:19 GMT -4
Post by BERNARD "HOT ROD" KRON on Jun 30, 2013 20:15:19 GMT -4
Hemi powered 60’s Style Junior Fueler Front Engined Dragster
(More pictures below)
This project was started more than two years ago. It’s based on the old MPC Ramchargers Dragster kit which has a very nice classic mid 60’s 160” wheelbase chassis. But the kit has one failing in my opinion, which is that the rear body section is made in two halves split vertically down the middle. It’s designed to be glued permanently in place, and once you do that all the nice interior detail of the kit is lost. So, every time I got started I looked at the body pieces and put it off for another day. Then a member of the Vintage Drag Racing Modelers message board came up with the genius idea of a Back Burner Nationals Challenge for half started and never finished projects. At last I had an excuse to resolving this issue once and for all. So… I glued the two halves together, reinforced the seam with plastic strip and then carefully cut the cowl piece out using the back of a No. 11 blade. Rather than risk handling the fragile body too much trying to smooth out the seam down the middle, I trimmed it out with a .020” half round styrene strip.
Mid-60’s diggers are among the most beautifully proportioned and designed straight line race cars ever created. And the slickest looking of all, IMHO, are the Junior Fuelers, those super light injected Little Giant Killers limited to 310 cu. in. and designed for optimum performance.in the first 300 feet. Can you say Hole Shot? Can you say Crowd Favorites?
Anyway, starting with the MPC kit I deleted the extraneous bodywork, built up an injected 392 Hemi (let’s assume it’s a small displacement DeSoto, shall we…) and gave it a slick showboat paint job typical of these mid-decade local heroes. Everything is from the MPC Ramchargers Dragster kit except as noted below.
Thanx for lookin’,
B.
Bodywork: MPC Ramchargers kit with nose deleted. Original vertical clamshell construction converted to fully functional removable cowl. Bodywork glued into place on final model with Ambroid Tac ‘n’ Place to allow the body shell to be removed to display the bare chassis. Paint is Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver with Tamiya TS-20 Metallic Green panels. Trade decals from the Ramchargers Dragster kit. Lil’ Giant Killer logo decals are home made.
Motor and Driveline: Ross Gibson Injected 392 Hemi resin kit block, heads, valley cover, accessory drive and oil pan. Correct Hilborn Chrysler 932 Hemi style injectors and Hilborn fuel pump courtesy of Altered Sates Models. Mickey Thompson early series Hemi style valve covers and stainless steel injector stacks courtesy of Speed City Resins. Zoomy headers from the Ramchargers dragster kit. Driveline from the Ramchargers kit.
